Healthy Habit #1 KNOWLEDGE IS POWER - THE PROJECT

I have a strange fascination with other people's trolley contents in the supermarket. It never ceases to amaze me when a mother with 2 toddlers in tow chooses frozen pizzas and sugary fizzy drinks for her family. Or a man in the prime of his life fills his basket with a loaf of white bread, some processed cheese and a 6-pack of lager. I always ask myself the same question: why do these shoppers make such bad choices?

There may be several reasons for buying a ready meal, bulk-discounted tinned soup or decadently rich chocolate pudding, such as convenience, cost or a perhaps an upcoming special occasion. On the whole, though, I believe most consumers out there make the wrong food choices, because they are completely disinterested in or uneducated about what they put in their mouths. Unfortunately, ignorance in this case, does not amount to bliss.

Obesity has a severe impact on health, increasing the risk of type-2 diabetes, some cancers, and heart and liver disease. Although there has been a huge improvement, awareness regarding the serious risks of a poor diet and an unhealthy lifestyle is still pretty abysmal. Obesity- and lifestyle-related illnesses are currently the largest drain on healthcare public funds in the UK. Direct costs are estimated to be £4.2 billion and this figure is expected to more than double by 2050 if things don't change. Then there are the costs to society and the economy more broadly (like reduced productivity due to sickness absence), estimated at £16 billion and expected to rise to £50 billion by 2050. To think these costs could largely be avoided if people made the right food choices...

My project over the next year or so will be to discuss several healthy habits that I try to apply in my own life. I will include recipes that incorporate these habits and hopefully you will agree that healthy needn't equal boring or tasteless.


NHS Health Survey for England 2008

Department of Health: Obesity General Information - December 2009

Times Online "Increasing Obesity Pushes Diabetes Drug Bill to £600m" - September 2009

The Observer "Who's to blame for Britain's obesity problem?" - October 2009